The Goan IT Wave

Think of Goa and the image that comes to the mind of most average
Indian would be of idyllic sun kissed beaches, old Portugese churches and the
picturesque Konkan Railways while the slightly more venturous might think of
intoxicating feni and the spicy sorpotel. A laid-back atmosphere with a quaint
old world charm, the state exudes a perennial holiday spirit where talking about
more modern but mundane and prosaic issues like e-governance and IT
implementation seem like blasphemy. But in today’s changing times, when
knowledge economy seems to rule the roost, the IT bug does not seem to have
spared even India’s second most famous tourist destination globally (after Taj
Mahal in Agra).

Serious Pursuit

With most states in the country already showcasing a slew of e-governance
projects, Goa too jumped into the bandwagon a couple of years back. And going by
the progress on this front till date, the state is approaching automation of its
mostadministrative functions with a vengeance. In a recent report ranking Indian
states in terms of their e-readiness (India: E-Readiness Assessment Report
2003), Goa was rated as an "aspiring leader". It shared this rank with
Gujarat, Delhi and Chandigarh.

In the topmost category of ‘leaders’ were states like Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. This really proves that adoption of
e-governance by Goa is not just some passing fancy induced by the idyllic stupor
in the mesmerizing Baga beach.

The extent of Goa’s seriousness in e-governance implementation is reflected
in the words of Bhupinder S Bhalla, Secretary (IT), Government of Goa. "For
enforcing e-governance in the state, a special taskforce has been created and
for them budget is not a constraint", he says.

He clarifies that Goa is not keen in competing with states such as Karnataka
and Andhra Pradesh in the IT industry but want to be the leader in e-governance.
No wonder, that the state government plans to automate all its 29 departments
over a period of three years. Out of these 20 departments have been accorded
priority status, and in 14 of them implementation work is already in progress.
For the current year, the government has a planned budget outlay of Rs 45 crore.
Bhalla is confident that the government would be able to meet the deadline and
he is candid enough to admit that this fast execution is possible because the
state is smaller in size than most of its counterparts rather than any special
expertise.

"It is true we were much late to start on e-governance than many other
states, but that has also given us an added advantage of learning from others’
mistakes," he adds.

DS Negi, chief secretary, Government of Goa, further emphasizes the
importance of these e-governance projects. "The government is committed to
provide qualitative "consumer satisfaction" in serving the citizens.
The government is ultimately answerable to the people, and the people have a
right to transparent, responsive and accountable governance; in the age of
information, access to real-time information, monitoring mechanisms and an
effective grievance redressal machinery is a duty of the government. Usage of IT
in governance would help immensely to achieve this objective and taking the
government to the people in real-time, online. Apart from being an aid to
decision-making and monitoring for the government, IT applications can provide
far better & prompt services to the citizens, with increase in the
administration’s productivity, reduction in costs and at the same time,
improvement in the social infrastructure, by prioritizing goals in vital
sectors. The government is committed to provide quality services through
participation of commercial industrial organizations, towards
e-governance."

Working Successes

In their effort to make the government accessible from the remotest point of
Goa, a special stress has been laid on networking the state through optic fiber
cable to provide information and services to the citizens by establishing kiosks
throughout Goa. This would help in providing real-time applications from the
interior parts of Goa and in prompting online responses of the concerned
official.

This dedicated network line is called GoaNet while the kiosks are called
Mahiti Ghars. There are plans to have 30 such kiosks across the state down to
the taluka level linked to GoaNet for the governance of the entire state. Since
the launch of two kiosks on May 30, 2003, the state currently has 9 such Mahiti
Ghars in operation. The access from these kiosks is browser-based and the GoaNet
framework is used to integrate all processes.

Some government departments can even today boast of successful e-governance
projects already in place. One is the transport department, which has witnessed
the implementation of a state-of-the-art IT architecture. All seven Regional
Transport Offices (RTOs) in Goa have been computerized by NIC. The software,
earlier developed and implemented for the Delhi Transport Department Project has
two important modules, those pertaining to registration and tax collection. The
Registration module has provisions to register all types of vehicles in the
minimum possible time and the computerized RC books are issued to the parties on
the same day. The module also takes care of transactions such as change of
address, NOC, transfer of ownership, hypothecation etc. The Tax collection
module has provision for collecting tax for all the transport vehicles and
printing computerized receipts. Even the learning licenses are now being issued
from the Mahiti Ghars.

Land records is another department to witness widespread automation, and that
too in a seamless public-private joint venture. Bhalla proudly declares that Goa
can claim to be the first state to claim 100% computerization of land records.
Besides, in collaboration with Vision Labs 100% of the revenue maps in the state
have been digitized. Under the aegis of the prestigious "Dharni
Project" the automated land records have been integrated with the digitized
maps. This unique project in the country is having for the first time all text
and graphic land data on Goa ready to be issued to people on demand. While the
State government has spend Rs 1 crore, the Central assistance is to the tune of
Rs 3 crore.

Future Innovations

There are a few other interesting initiatives by the Goa government which if
implemented could make Goa probably the first state in the country to succeed in
commercially leveraging e-governance. Though senior officials like Negi and
Bhalla are not willing to comment on this, according to reliable government
sources, the Goa Government is entering into a JV with NCS, an offshoot of IDA,
Singapore which specializes in developing e-governance projects. Under the
contract, likely to be signed in the next two months, the Singapore company
would develop two e-governance projects which the Goa government would market
and sell to other Indian states. It is likely to have a 26:74 revenue sharing
model with the Singapore company. Therefore, in future Goa might be selling
e-governance projects to other states which have been laggards in the initial
stages. Wonder why states like Karnataka or even market-savvy Naidu’s Andhra
Pradesh have not thought about this revenue model earlier?

The Goa government has also just entered into a partnership with an US-based
online power company, Global Energy, whereby it would provide a wholesale power
trading platform. IT is making its presence felt also in healthcare where two
hospitals have been suitably upgraded and efforts are also on to link all
polyclinics.

Infrastructure Initiatives

Not only e-governance, like many other states Goa is also betting big on IT
parks. However, unlike most states, the thrust is more on hardware since the
taxes here are much lower. This has seen hardware manufacturers like D-Link,
Zenith and ControlNet setting up their manufacturing plants in the state. With
software exports amounting to about Rs.500 crore from the state, the government
has already set up one STP complex in Goa that is already functioning. A Hi-
Tech Habitat is being established on a 70 acre land situated at Dona Paula in
the proximity of Panaji, the capital of Goa.

There is also a proposal to establish a Cyber City within a special economic
zone in the Pernen taluka near the proposed international airport site. The
Cyber City would include IT -enabled services and processing studios for
attracting international conventions and delegates, to provide a high-spending
tourist profile for Goa as opposed to being a haven for backpackers. This city
would be linked through MRTS (under discussions with the Konkan Railways
authorities) to the proposed international airport at Mopa for easy
connectivity. Besides, there are plans to increase additional space in the STP
at Verna.

All’s Not Well

While the talks of different e-governance initiatives and increasing IT
implementation project a radically IT-savvy picture of the state, it might not
be true to all extent. The lethargic pace of implementation often gives the
impression that the denizens of the state are not willing to come out of their
happy-go-lucky, casual image. While that might be great for attracting the
backpacking class of tourists, it does not present a real serious corporate
image. A case in point is the inordinate delay in coming out with the IT policy–the
dates are being continuously postponed for the last two years.

However, Bhalla confirms that it would definitely come out within the next
three months. Quite shocking for a state headed by an ex-IITian, chief minister
Manohar Parrikar.

A senior observer working in the state for a long time feels that barring a
few like Bhalla and Negi, most bureaucrats are mortally afraid of using the
computer, let alone becoming e-responsive to the average citizen. Most officials
seem innocent about using e-mail as a mechanism for feedback from the citizen.
Rural connectivity has been slow in coming, and what has come has proliferated
due to market pressures rather than state government support. Despite such
pessimism, it is undeniable that Goa has a special stake in deploying IT
effectively, because of its strong needs to deal with the outside world. And
this makes Bhalla’s words even more important: "In three years Goa should
have an e-government."

Rajneesh De in Mumbai